Consumables
ALL ILEVEL BY WEYERHAEUSER FACILITIES CERTIFIED TO SFI OR PEFC
Thursday 28. May 2009 - As a part of a broad commitment to corporate social responsibility, iLevel by Weyerhaeuser announced that all of its structural framing materials are certified to Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI) fiber sourcing or SFI or Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) chain-of-custody standards.
iLevel, Weyerhaeusers integrated residential framing business, providing both products and unified building solutions, has now achieved SFI certification at 37 of its mills across North America. Weyerhaeuser is among the largest wood producers in the world, manufacturing engineered wood products and solid sawn lumber.
“iLevel and Weyerhaeuser have long been committed to green building, and operating our facilities and managing our forests in environmentally responsible ways,” says Susan Swirsley, Director of Marketing Services for iLevel. “SFI certification plays a critical role in our environmental policy, and empowers our customers to make educated environmental choices when they buy wood products for structural framing. We are proud to be able to tell our current and potential customers that all of our products come from responsible sources.”
With more than 160 million acres (65 million hectares) certified across North America, the independent SFI sustainable forestry certification program is one of the largest in the world, with a standard based on principles and measures that promote responsible environmental behavior and sound forest management including measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk and forests of exceptional conservation value.
All 41 of the iLevel mills are certified to either SFI fiber sourcing certification, which means they have a certified procurement system to ensure the wood comes from responsible sources; or SFI or PEFC chain-of-custody certification, which means they have a tracking system in place to identify the amount of wood fiber originating from forests certified to the SFI, Canadian Standards Association or American Tree Farm System standards.
By achieving SFI certification, iLevel by Weyerhaeuser joins a growing community of companies, landowners, and social and environmental organizations all committed to improving forest practices on a global scale. All of Weyerhaeusers forest operations in the United States and Canada are independently certified to sustainable forestry standards, including more than six million acres (2.57 million hectares) to the SFI 2005-2009 Standard.
“Demand for products from responsibly managed forests is increasing worldwide, and with todays announcement, iLevel by Weyerhaeuser joins a growing number of companies demonstrating their environmental commitment through certification to the SFI program,” says SFI Inc. President and CEO Kathy Abusow. “At a time when just 10 percent of the worlds forests are independently certified, Weyerhaeuser has taken a leadership role by supporting global efforts to improve forest practices.”
Earlier this year, iLevel products became the first to receive the Green Approved product seal of approval from the NAHB Research Center. The mark aims to provide third-party evidence that building products meet specific scoring criteria for homes seeking certification to the National Green Building Standard, a consensus-developed standard recently approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).